Zetterberg looks to 2014-15: Captain Henrik Zetterberg talks about what's next for the Detroit Red Wings while cleaning out his locker Tuesday, April 29, 2014. Video by Helene St. James / DFP

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It was a miserable, depressing April morning. The sky was gray, and the air was cold and wet, which is not exactly the time of year the Detroit Red Wings want to come together to pose for a final team photo and to clean out their lockers.

For the fifth time in five years, the Wings failed to get past the second round of the playoffs. “That’s a five-year drought, the way I look at it,” coach Mike Babcock said.

And so, the Wings stuffed their stuff in their bags and signed memorabilia, vowing to come back in September better than ever. And general manager Ken Holland talked to the media, starting to lay out his plan.

“I’m proud of the fact that we made the playoffs,” Holland said. “But nobody here wants to be taking team pictures in April. We certainly have bigger hopes, bigger aspirations. We want to go further in the playoffs.”

The blueprint is right there, still on display.

To make a long run in the playoffs, the Red Wings need to look more like the Boston Bruins. The Bruins had a roster with six players who scored 19 goals or more during the regular season; the Red Wings had two.

“I think, when you build a team, you need lots of 20-goal scorers,” Holland said. “We didn’t have enough 20-goal scorers. And some of the 20-goal scorers, they went down for stretches.”

The Bruins had a great goalie and a rock-solid defense, and they dominated the Red Wings on special teams in the first round of the playoffs. Against Detroit, Boston faced 20 penalties and killed all but two; and the Bruins went 6-for-16 on the power play.

“We’d love to get a right-shot defenseman who can play on the power play,” Holland said. “We’d like to get a better power play.” And not just one power-play unit. “You need two units,” Holland said.

Time to get healthy

So how does Detroit do it?

How does Detroit get past the second round for the first time in what feels like forever?

Don’t expect a huge transformation from free agency. Holland told the team that a lot of the changes will be internal. “I think there is this perception that, with July 1 free agents, there is this hockey store, and there is this fantasy hockey league that I’m running, and we can go get superstars,” Holland said. “Those days are over.”

Though it is possible the Wings will make a trade or two or even add a free agent or two, for the most part this team will be built from within the organization.

That means the Wings need to get healthy. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg must spend the summer rehabbing and come back stronger than ever. The same goes for Stephen Weiss. He scored 69 goals in a three-year span (2009-12), but he played just 26 games this season and had two goals before being shut down. “It was a disappointing year,” Holland said.

Last week, Weiss had surgery to release scar tissue. “He needs a great summer,” Holland said. “We need him to get healthy.”

And the Wings need more of a consistent contribution from Johan Franzen, who scored 16 goals in 54 games before going AWOL in the playoffs. Franzen is not going anywhere. The Wings aren’t going to buy him out, and they still need his scoring. “I like Mule,” Holland said. “He is a big body. When he gets on a roll, he can carry a team.”

Which brings us to the kids.

The Red Wings need their young players to continue to develop, to come into camp hungry and ready to earn jobs from the start, instead of starting out in Grand Rapids.

For Holland to ponder

Holland will have to face several questions this summer.

How many of these young players are ready? Should Holland trade some of that youth, giving up some of the future for the present?

Will Holland extend Babcock’s contract? Babcock said that he’s fine working under a one-year deal. “I think if you put down a list of the best coaches in the NHL, he’s on that list,” Holland said. “I do want him back.”

Is Jimmy Howard the absolute answer at goalie? Howard had 21 wins this season. Jonas Gustavsson and Petr Mrazek had the other 18. Holland believes Howard is a 60-game goalie, but will he be? Or will the Wings use more of a two-man rotation? By the way, is Mrazek ready to back up Howard, playing a small number of games in the NHL, or would it be better for him to stay in Grand Rapids and play more often?

“We lost on Saturday,” Holland said. “People want answers, but I don’t have answers today. We might have answers on the 20th of June.”

For now, he does have something else: a focused, burning desire for no more good-byes in April.